Martin B. Cassidy, Staff Writer

Published 4:01 pm, Saturday, May 22, 2010

A pattern seems to repeat itself every few years: the concept of water-borne freight or a ferry service is touted as a common sense solution to reduce traffic, followed by specific proposals that fade away or are thwarted by opposition, said Karen Burnaska, a member of the state's Transportation Strategy Board.

The Strategy Board which is appointed by the governor and legislators, endorsed the concept of a feeder-barge service from coastal Connecticut to carry freight from New York and New Jersey, but saw a proposal for a service from Bridgeport to drop the barge project last year when community outcry about additional trucks emerged.

"To my knowledge there hasn't been much more discussion about feeder barges," Burnaska said.

"In one way it is a shame because Long Island Sound is one of our true assets and if we could make better use of it that would be fantastic."

While perhaps years away, Stamford Mayor Mike Pavia can imagine christening a ferry service carrying Fairfield County business people from Bridgeport and Stamford into Manhattan as a way to cut down traffic on Interstate 95.

Current and future development in the South End and a possible influx of employees for corporations in that area could support several commuter and recreational ferry services, including a shorter range ferry bringing residents from neighboring towns and cities to Stamford for day trips, dining, and other tourism, Pavia said.

In 2007 Stamford finished a site study that tapped Brewer's Shipyard in the South End as the most convenient terminal location to provide a speedy service, though the city has not chosen an operator or finalized an eventual the site of a terminal, Pavia said.

Alternative transportation

Since 2002, Stamford and Bridgeport have obtained a combined $15 million in congressional earmarks to help establish terminals, rent boats, and add other infrastructure for a service to either lower or Midtown Manhattan, targeting automobile users rather than rail passengers.

"You have to think about this in terms of what will happen in the future," Pavia said. "The idea of a ferry is important because it serves a need for alternative transportation and uses a resource that is already there and in my opinion has been under utilized for some time."

While leaders have planned for more than a decade for a Manhattan- bound ferry service and other schemes to carry freight on Long Island Sound, Pavia and others said none of those projects appear likely in the near future.

In Stamford there is still pivotal questions about the convenience, cost competitiveness, and demand for a Manhattan-bound ferry service, Pavia said. "That doesn't mean we shouldn't think about this," Pavia said. "The thing you have to understand is that these things rise and fall and shrink and grow with the economic times."

A study planned for later this year by the Bridgeport Port Authority will consider the logistics of a five-year-old proposal to run a ferry from Bridgeport to Stamford to 34th Street in Manhattan to determine if running a high-speed service is possible, according to the Port Authority.

An earlier estimate in a 2006 study by the authority said an initial service could carry about 250 passengers, and connect to Wall Street in about 90 minutes.

Whether the price of the service will be competitive with train prices or driving to Manhattan is also considered important to attracting passengers, Nielsen said.

"Personally I think an intermediate stop in Stamford makes the ferry more attractive rather than less," Mark Nielsen, executive director of the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency.

"The numbers are so close that you need the Stamford stop to make it a lot more attractive."

Roger Fox, a member of the Stamford's Harbor Management Commission said it appears more likely that Bridgeport or Stamford could launch a ferry service alone that could compete with the travel time of trains, than together.

Dedicating enough parking for the number of passengers needed to make the service viable is also a challenge in high value waterfront areas.

"The terminal has to be a place that has parking for a significant number of cars for passengers," Fox said.

"There are a lot of obstacles in the way of this and it has been slow off the starting blocks."

"You start to say, `I just don't see this as feasible for the commuter,'" Fox said.

Additionally the terminal needs to be located somewhere on the outer limits of the channel of Stamford Harbor because speed restrictions in the no-wake zone in the channel would limit the ability to run a high speed service.

For Stamford and Greenwich residents who work on Wall Street, establishing a terminal near Wall Street might be more practical than a Midtown berth that would require an extra leg by subway, bus, or cab to get to work.

"If a ferry stops in Mid-town you have to get to a subway to get to the financial district but a ferry from Stamford to Wall Street gives you a time advantage, " Fox said.

Another plan: Ferry to Martha's Vineyard

Meanwhile an Atlantic Heights,N.J. company, Sea Streak LLC. is awaiting the decision of Norwalk planning and zoning officials on whether they will be allowed to run a high speed ferry service to Martha's Vineyard that stops at Norwalk Cove Marina, said Elizabeth B. Suchy, a local attorney representing the company said.

The service would disembark from Atlantic Highlands, stop at 34th Street in New York City, and South Norwalk.

A public hearing on the proposal has been set for 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 19, in the Common Council Room, of Norwalk City Hall, 125 East Ave. The ferry would leave South Norwalk at 5 p.m. on Thursday evenings, and return on Sundays, costing about $200 round trip per head, Suchy said.

"With the railroad right next door why would you take a ferry if you could get a faster and less costly trip that takes you right into Grand Central Station?" Lapp said. "...It's been back and forth and up and down and it sounds very exciting and romantic, but it is difficult for the ferry to compete with the railroad in this particular location."